


in the fishtank

by Jaybird_Wings



Series: they call clouds of space dust a nursery for stars [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Circus, Found Family, Gen, Imp! Tommy, Piglin Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Singing, Siren! Wilbur, Wilbur Soot-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29001465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaybird_Wings/pseuds/Jaybird_Wings
Summary: Sirens are not social creatures. From a young age, he had to fend for himself in the ocean. When your voice can take away free will, nothing really wants to hang around you.Or, Wilbur's life before he met Techno and Tommy.
Relationships: Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit
Series: they call clouds of space dust a nursery for stars [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2127498
Comments: 1
Kudos: 172





	in the fishtank

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place before the first part of this series.

Wilbur breathed in salty air coming off the waves. 

If one closed their eyes, all you would hear is the crash of waves. The ocean was a huge, living and changing construct. Hundreds of miles of water and the chaos down below the surface.

It was so much bigger than him, and on certain nights he was more convinced he was a giant crashing fold of water miles from her rather than a small siren named Wilbur. 

When Phil had brought up a secluded beach house, he had been ecstatic. He only had glimpses of memories of the ocean before he’d been dragged away from his home.

  
  


Most people just killed monsters on sight. What’s the use of trying to understand something feral, after all? 

But they didn’t kill him. No, they had laughed at first, wondering to themselves if he was some sort of sprite or selkie. And biting his lip, he glared at the with all the hatred in his young heart.

And then he started singing. 

  
  


Sirens are not social creatures. From a young age, he had to fend for himself in the ocean. When your voice can take away free will, nothing really wants to hang around you. 

  
  


He ran, the cave he’d been bunking in no longer safe. But he was not used to the land, his feet bleeding and bruising easily. He couldn’t run far, and soon enough the humans learned to muzzle him. 

They didn’t kill him then, either. 

No, they tied him up and blindfolded him. Carted him around like cargo and he ended up at that goddamn circus. 

  
  


The circus was mostly filled with fake exhibits and humans with abnormalities. He’d been shoved in a fish tank just big enough to fit him if he sat down, and people marveled at the boy who could breathe underwater. 

  
  


Sirens were oddities amongst monsters. He had teeth like an angler fish, gills down his neck, and patches of scales on his body. But for the most part? He looked human. Monsters who looked kinda human could possibly try hiding and are often given a little more mercy. And with their best weapon being their voice, sirens were supposed to be the most impressive of monsters. Or, that’s what the ringmaster told the audience at least. 

But they to feed him, lest he starved. He waited painfully patiently for the staff to mess up just once. 

Just for one person to forget their earbuds or one person to leave the muzzle just a little too loose and he’d be free. 

  
  


And one day, there’s a blonde kid with a beanie and oversize coat meandering around. Nobody seems to notice, but the kid is definitely suspicious. 

The world flips over as his fishtank falls over, shattering and spilling water everywhere. His legs burn and he needs a moment to adjust to breathing air instead of water- and the kid runs over. 

With deft hands, the muzzle comes off and he screams. 

Everything is a blur of pain and being manhandled while humans are running around like headless chickens. 

  
  


When the adrenaline fades, he’s aware of the kid and a larger figure helping him get away, keeping to the alleyways and dark corners.

“Who the fuck” He asks with a scratchy voice, “are you two?”

The kid tips his hat, revealing two red horns and grins. “I’m Tommy. That’s Techno.”

He looks up closer and the person mostly carrying him is a piglin. Monsters, then. Monsters saved him. 

“Why did you do something so stupid?” He whispers a little while later when they’re all farther away from town. He’s still soaked wet and shivering. 

Tommy slips off his coat, also revealing a devil’s tail, and gives it to him. 

The piglin- Techno- grumbles, “Well, this idiot wouldn’t leave me alone until we got you out of there.”

  
  


And as stubborn and wary Wilbur is, he’s in no shape to make it on his own. The healing process is fast-forwarded with a healing potion- “How’d you get one of these?” “None of your business.”- and somehow he never finds himself running away.

He was certain of it. If he just made it to the ocean, he could swim away and be far from humans and monsters alike. 

All until Tommy asks him to sing. 

Wilbur had looted a guitar and was softly humming while strumming it, and Tommy asked him if he could sing something. 

His breath stops, “You do know sirens control their victims with singing, right?” 

Tommy scoffs, “But it’s not like, every song you sing. This is for fun.” 

He glances nervously over to Techno, who’s fully focused on lighting a campfire. But he doesn’t look bothered. 

  
  


And Wilbur loves music. Maybe it’s in his blood with his ancestors whose songs saved their lives, but without being able to sing for so long he feels like he’s lost a piece of himself. Even if sirens differentiate siren song from normal singing, monsters and humans alike paled at a siren singing. 

He strums some cords, nervousness collecting in his throat. He’s only ever sung for himself. No one has ever wanted to hear him sing. 

He glances at Tommy’s expectant face and start. 

His voice is still scratchy and foreign to him from disuse, from can’t stop the smile forming on his face as he belts his heart out. 

When he finishes, Tommy claps and tells him to sing another song. Techno only adds that the younger shouldn’t force Wilbur to entertain him.

  
  


And then he knows he’s going to stay. 


End file.
